The Educational Preparation of Oral Teachers of the Deaf

Volume 14 2, No. 3, 1997 The Educational Preparation of Oral Teachers of the Deaf Richard G. Brill, former associate editor of the Annals. Gallaudet University Archives. Richard G. Brill* Superintendent, California Schools for the Deaf, Riverside, California Deaf children are taught orally in public residential schools in forty-four states and in day schools and day classes in twenty-six states. All oral teachers of the deaf teach the same kind of children and teach approximately the same things to these children, regardless of the type of school or the location of the school. In actual practice, the educational preparation of teachers of the deaf, all of whom are doing approximately the same things, varies considerably. A survey of the educational preparation of a representative sampling of teachers of the deaf was made and the data analyzed in terms of (1) teachers rated "best" and teachers rated "poorest " in day and residential schools and, (2) comparison of residential and day school teachers. If there appear to be significant differences between the "best" teachers and the "poorest" teachers, or between the teachers in * This article is a summary of part of one chapter in the thesis The Training of Academic Teachers of the Deaf submitted to the faculty of the School of Education of Rutgers University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree Doctor of Education. The whole thesis is 359 pages and copies are deposited in the Rutgers University library and the Gallaudet College library . the various types of schools, the implications of these differences should be considered in formulating a training program to prepare oral academic teachers of the deaf. Method of Conducting Survey To obtain data for such an analysis, a questionnaire was used. The American Annals of the Deaf, of January, 1948, lists sixty-six public residential schools for the deaf. Eight of these schools are segregated schools for Negroes only; and as the training of the teachers in these schools is not representative of the training of the teachers in the other schools, these schools were excluded from the survey. Gallaudet College is one of the sixty-six schools listed, but it was excluded because it is of collegiate level. A Single class for the deaf in the Sonoma State Home for the Feebleminded in California was also excluded . Questionnaires and letters to the superintendents were sent to the remaining fifty-six public residential schools, and some information was received from forty-six of these schools making a response of eighty-two percent . There were 115 public day schools for the deaf listed in the January, 1948, American Annals of the Deaf. Of this Reprinted from Brill, R. G., 1952. The educational preparation of oral teachers of the deaf. American Annals of the Deaf, 91(3) 313-321. Volume 142, No. 3, 1997 American Annals of the Deaf Educational Preparation of Oral Teachers Table I Distribution of Teachers According to (a) Type of Schools, and (b) Extent of Training one to six. The school head was asked to give three of the questionnaires with certain numbers to his three poorest teachers, and the others to his three best teachers. The questionnaires specifically stated that the name of the teacher was not to be placed on the questionnaire. The head of each school was also asked to indicate how many of his oral teachers, i.e., those teachers who teach speech and teach by speech, fell into each of the following categories: a. Education of at least a baccalaureate level plus formal training for teaching the deaf. b. Education below a baccalaureate level plus formal training for teaching the deaf. c. Education of at least a baccalaureate level with only specialized training while in service. d. Education below a baccalaureate level with only specialized training while in service. number, twenty-five were listed as having six or more teachers each. Letters and questionnaires were sent to the heads of these schools. Some information was received from twenty-three of these schools, constituting ninetytwo percent of the total. The head of the school was requested to give the questionnaires to the three "best" teachers in the school and to the three "poorest" teachers in the...